Genesis 21:10 

New International Version (NIV)

And she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

For Meditation

She was desperate for a child, but age had caught up with her. All her life, Sarah had dreamed of family away from her family in Harran – a close-knit family. And why wouldn’t she dream it? God had promised to make her husband into a great nation (Gen. 12:2-3). But, now she was seventy-five, and completely out of the ball park, with no goal on the score board. So, how was God going to fulfill His promise to her husband?

“Wait a minute! Why haven’t I thought about this before? There is beautiful Hagar, my slave girl. Maybe that’s why God took us to Egypt.”

You know how good and submissive wives are (1 Pt. 3:6). They want everything right in the home, no matter the cost. If she had gone along with Abraham in Egypt with the, “She is my sister” story, this is payback time. He cannot refuse her this one. After all, it’s for their mutual benefit.

I don’t know if the old man had set his eyes on the Egyptian beauty before this time. He offered no resistance.

“The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her” (16:2).

“That’s why I love you, Sarah. You’re so kind and forward thinking,” Abram might have said.

 What happened to faith, Abraham? But, isn’t that how we all are sometimes?

We love the Lord and trust Him, but there comes a time our faith weakens. We’re not so sure again. After all, the argument from the other side is not sinful. In this case, the culture allowed it, so Abraham was free to oblige; and Ismael was born (15).

Fast forward fourteen years later. God has been faithful to His promise and the unthinkable had happened. Sarah has nursed a boy from her own womb, and from her hundred-year-old husband. The boy is weaned, but there is trouble in the house. Sarah wanted her space and the security of Isaac, her child. Ishmael, born of Hagar, is mocking, and she knew what that meant. The birthright was at stake!

“Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac” (21:10).

But, Sarah! I thought you desperately wanted this boy from Hagar that you freely offered your marital bed to her. So, isn’t Ishmael your son too? How could you now call him the son of the slave woman?

1. Does that sound familiar?
2. Do you remember when you pushed your spouse for that which has now become an albatross on your neck?
3. What means didn’t you employ?
4. Do you remember your daily cry on God for that man/woman, job, or position?
5. What counsel and Holy Spirit conviction didn’t you reject? And now it’s His fault, right?

May God have mercy on all of us!

Shalom